r2i forum

I am planning a r2i in 2011 - possibly late summer. We are both Tamil Iyers - but are from Mumbai. Kids are small - 8 and 5. Other than short vacations we have never spent any time in Tamil Nadu.

Mumbai is too congested, and the cost of living in the city itself has reached the stratosphere and beyond - it does not seem worth squandering a lifetime of savings and try to squeak by.

We are hence seriously considering either Chennai or Coimbatore?

My thoughts so far

Chennai
Pro-
Large metropolis - more entertainment options (malls,theaters, kaccheri,eating out)
Better or more choice of extracurricular activities for kids (music, sports, etc)
More cosmopolitan (perhaps better for kids to adjust from US)
Proximity to the beach
Better schools?

Con-
Weather - too hot in summers
Water supply scarce and water/power cuts(?)
Cost of living is starting to approach that of Mumbai (incl real estate)?

Coimbatore
Pro
Weather - would be a huge plus
Tier 2 - lower cost of living = more house with same $
Up and coming - so ability to ride the wave up

Con
Adjustment for kids to a smaller town
Less cosmopolitan
Limited avenues for entertainment (?)

Any other pros /cons to consider?
What would be a better city to r2i to and Why?

This topic has been discussed in the following threads not directly comparing Chennai vs CBE though. But we can derive some information and may be post the direct comparisions in this tread.

http://www.r2iclubforums.com/forums/showthread.php/15718-where-to-R2I-CBE-vs-B-lore
http://www.r2iclubforums.com/forums/showthread.php/8016-Chennai-vs-Bangalore?highlight=coimbatore
http://www.r2iclubforums.com/forums/showthread.php/9706-Cost-of-Living-in-Coimbatore?highlight=coimbatore
http://www.r2iclubforums.com/forums/showthread.php/13063-Good-Tier-2-Tier-3-R2I-cities?highlight=coimbatore

subrama;325354
Coimbatore
Pro
Weather - would be a huge plus
Tier 2 - lower cost of living = more house with same $
Up and coming - so ability to ride the wave up

Con
Adjustment for kids to a smaller town
Less cosmopolitan
Limited avenues for entertainment (?)

I agree with your limited avenues for entertainment, however two malls are due by end of this year and a Taj hotel. I had posted similar comment in skypscrapercity forum, and the guys disagreed with me and opened a thread, but they all point to hit the nature trail. :)
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1187929

Was always wondering about this..Even in sumu's thread, she was mentioning that she had a lot of R2i neighbors in Coimbatore..how about employment opportunities? Coimbatore can never be compared with Chennai/Blr in terms of employment other than a couple of big software companies and the manufacturing companies(pumps/textiles) that were existing for quite sometime. Even if someone is starting business - is the buying potential of the people that big comparable to any other big city ? Just a curious question as you did not mention abt this in your comparison.

[QUOTE]But we can derive some information and may be post the direct comparisions in this thread.

Thanks for those links. Very useful to read - but as you said no direct head-to-head comparisons esp. for Tamilians - which I feel will be a useful comparison to go thorugh.

sriradh;325419Was always wondering about this..Even in sumu's thread, she was mentioning that she had a lot of R2i neighbors in Coimbatore..how about employment opportunities? Coimbatore can never be compared with Chennai/Blr in terms of employment other than a couple of big software companies and the manufacturing companies(pumps/textiles) .

All valid points.

[QUOTE]however two malls are due by end of this year and a Taj hotel.
Nice to know. Which part of CBE is the malls and Taj coming up in? Is there a particular area of CBE which is seeing a lot of dvmpt. I see some msgs from 2008/2009 talking about the Tidel park being delayed - where do things stand now?

sriradh;325419Was always wondering about this..Even in sumu's thread, she was mentioning that she had a lot of R2i neighbors in Coimbatore..how about employment opportunities? Coimbatore can never be compared with Chennai/Blr in terms of employment other than a couple of big software companies and the manufacturing companies(pumps/textiles) that were existing for quite sometime. Even if someone is starting business - is the buying potential of the people that big comparable to any other big city ? Just a curious question as you did not mention abt this in your comparison.

Most of them either work from home for their client in the US or own their own business. None of them have sought work here or work for any company in CBE. Buying potential of the people here is quite good !! CBE has always had entrepreneurial people and a lot of them are into running their own business and so the buying potential has always been good. Real estate prices have held up quite good also. .Land prices are not very cheap here and is probably comparable to chennai.
Fun Republic on Avinashi road and Brookefield mall on Brooke Bond rd clsoe to R.S Puram are the two upcoming malls in CBE. RMKV has opened a store in the BrookeField mall and 4 theaters, food court and other shops are still under construction in the Brookefield mall.
I heard the 'Rajalaksmi mills' on Trichy road in Ondipudur has been bought and 'Coimbatore City Center' mall will soon be coming up. This may take another 2-3 yrs.
IT Tidel park in Peelamedu has been opened. Cognizant in Saravanampatty now has about 5000 employees. I think chennai definitely has more options for people seeking jobs in IT. It will take time for CBE to get there.

For me the employment opportunities is really the decider (not sure if it matters to you). Am originally from Coimbatore, we are R2Ing to chennai in a couple of months (reason employment in chennai thru same company i work for here in US, so kinda makes sense). However given i really pondered cbe vs chennai, heres my take:
- weather - hands down coimbatore. just awesome. chennai beach may be attractive and good during nov - feb, but u r looking at horrible weather mostly.
- real estate - yes, much more house with same $. some parts of chennai (besant nagar etc where i was looking to buy) is riduculously expensive compared to cbe. but pls dont take cbe for granted, in some ways, its more expensive than blr.
- avenues for entertainment: yes, limited in cbe - but shouldnt be a concern, theres plenty of things to do to keep u busy. if u r a traveller, ooty, kerala etc etc is right next door

in short, my vote is on coimbatore if you arent particular about IT employment.